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Thursday, May 16, 2019

[UPDATE] Hyatt Centric Looks to Check in to former Lenox Square Bank Site

Mall owner Simon Property Group is reviving plans to develop a vacant parcel of land near Lenox Square but instead of a pair of residential high rises as previously announced, the firm plans to build a 16 story hotel. The hotel, planned for the roughly one acre parcel at the edge of the mall near the Gordon Bynum Jr. Pedestrian Bridge, would carry the Hyatt Centric flag and feature 221 rooms, a rooftop restaurant, outdoor dining, fitness center and a pool. The hotel will not add any vehicle parking and will use existing deck parking at Lenox Square.

Rendering of Hyatt Centric from Lenox Parkway behind Bloomingdale's

The new hotel would open in place of ProntoWash, a car wash that operates out of a former SunTrust Bank drive-thru ATM facility and a gravel lot next door. Simon already owns the property, and while they will likely partner with a separate firm to develop/manage the hotel, it was not immediately clear who that may be, or if a partner has been selected.

The Hyatt Centric flag, introduced by Hyatt in 2015, is already in the market with a property in Midtown. The Hyatt Centric Midtown Atlanta made its debut this past fall, representing the re-flagging of the hotel previously known as the Hyatt Midtown Atlanta.

"Hyatt Centric is a brand of full-service lifestyle hotels located in prime destinations. Created for millennial-minded travelers who want to be in the middle of the action, Hyatt Centric hotels are thoughtfully designed to enable exploration and discovery."

View from Gordon Bynum Bridge to Hyatt Centric

The new Hyatt Centric would connect to PATH400, a multi-use greenway that continues both across GA400 to Miami Circle and along East Paces Ferry Road to the Lenox MARTA station. To improve connectivity to PATH400, 10 foot sidewalks will be added to continue the width of the path, architects with Cooper Carry and engineers with Kimley-Horn said at a May 1 Special Public Interest District 12 meeting. Bike lockers and racks will be provided for people who use the Path to get to and from the hotel and mall according to a report by Reporters Newspapers.

The hotel site is next to a possible new GA400 interchange at East Paces Ferry Road. The new interchange was first floated by the Buckhead Community Improvement District (CID) in 2017 and is currently being studied for feasibility.

The hotel is proposed for where the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) was planned to go before the idea fell through last year. (Beginning Saturday, June 29, CHaRM recycling collection events will pop-up at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in the magnolia parking lot from 8 am to noon. The collection will repeat the last Saturday of every month.)

Current view from edge of Gordon Bynum Bridge to subject property

At a time when malls are seen [by some] as stale and old, property owners like Simon are creating new reasons and amenities at their most popular malls in an effort to keep them up to date and interesting.

Simon, in partnership with Noble Investment Group, developed the 166 room AC Hotel by Marriott on a then vacant parcel of land adjacent to Phipps Plaza along Wieuca Road in 2016.

At Lenox Square, the Hyatt Centric would be the second hotel adjacent to the mall joining the 371 room, 27 story JW Marriott, which opened in 1988.

Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels already has a number of its other flags represented in Buckhead, including the Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Place brands. ToNeTo Atlanta reported this past October that a new Thompson Hotel from Denver-based Two Road Hospitality is planned for Buckhead Village in 2021. When that hotel does open, it will be as a Hyatt owned flag, following Hyatt's December 2018 acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality.

Are you excited for the possibility of a new hotel near Lenox Square? Have you been on PATH400? What is currently your favorite "staycation" hotel?

I don’t get the appeal of this location. It is literally land locked back there and the only thing really close walking distance is Crate & Barrel and Bloomingdale’s. I mean, who finds this particular location appealing? Let’s say you come in for a weekend and want to get out, likely in a car, to run around Atlanta. Trying to exit the mall area is an absolute shit show.

Just an odd location for a hotel, especially this flag, with a higher level of activation.

It’s 2/10 of a mile from the JW Marriott and while that distance on its own is immaterial, it is magnified by the fact that this is on an island. Have you ever driven back there on a sunny Saturday afternoon during the summer or holiday season? It is a nightmare and could take 10-15 minutes to get onto Lenox or Peachtree.

What is back there that is so appealing to any guest who isn’t going to spend their entire time at the mall or Shops Around Lenox? Sure, MARTA is close but let’s not kid ourselves with how many people use MARTA from out of town.

Again, this location just doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe I’m missing something.